Morning journal and courier., 1887-05-18
THE ERNST MURDER CASE.

The Prisoners to Plead To-Day 1n the
 Superior COurt-The Coroner's In.
 quest-LOOking For the Chloroform
 Bottle Down by the Depot-The Le&al
 Aspects of the Case.
 To-day Chamberlain and Taylor. the mur-
 derers of Mrs. Ernst, will be brought from
 the jail and be taken before Judge Stoddard
 in the Superior court and put to plea. It is
 thought that they will not be tried until the
 July term and even then their attorneys may
 not be prepared to go on with their cases.
 Yesterday Coroner Mix was preparing his report of the case, which he will present to State Attorney Doolittle and which will be his finding. It will be long document and will include the confessions of the two men. The corener's verdict in the case will be that Margaret Ernst came to her death at the hands of Chamberlain and Taylor.
 Lawyers Blydenburgh and Asher had long conference with the prisoners at the jail yesterday morning. The accused went over | the same ground that they did with Inspec- \ tor Byrnes and Coroner Mix. The attorneys | cautioned them against talking with members | of the press.
 Yesterday noon Detective Reilly took Fay | Tor from his quarters at the jail and drove in
 a hack to the depot, where they were joined | by Coroner Mix, who rode down in his beach | wagon. A crowd assembled about the party ! and new developments were expected. The | detective took his prisoner to O point just | south of the depot and there the two began l to search for the bottle containing the chlor- | oform which Taylor threw away at that point f on the night of the murder. But the search ' was unavailing and Detective Reilly then ! took his man in the hack and drove up Co., | lumbus avenue, presumably to visit Spruce street.
 Speculation is rife as to what the result of | the murderers' cases will be. The lawyers express different views. Some of note in the profession and experience in murder trials | hold that there is no escape for the prisoners | from the gallows, because the prisoners when | causing Mrs. Ernst's death were engaged in ! the crime of robbery. They hold that the | fact they were thus committing a double crime obviates the necessity which obtains in most murder cases of proving the intent. They cite, for instance, the case where bur- glars kill a man who is preventing them | from robbing his house, that being clear | case of murder in the first degree. Others claim there is loophole for the prisoners | and chance for plenty of expert medical | testimony, on the ground that it cannot be proven that chloroform killed Mrs. Ernst | and that it was not asthma in
 conjunction with chlorOfOrm that | \ there is good chance for legal fight over
 the assumption that she might not have died ! had it not been for the asthma from which she suffered. Then they say there is abun- | dant chance to make strong plea to the | jury by setting forth that the prisoners are \ young, look like mere boys, are not hardened | offenders and do not seem to realize the ter ! TOTS of the situation nor the enormity of ! their offense. The Law school students are I already taking deep interest in the legal aspects of the case and discussing the fea- ! lures of the case, the probable line of de. | fense, etc., with animation. The counsel for the accused have advised the prisoners to 1 enter plea of not guilty. Chamberlain s | fathers name is now said to be Curtis. The father and mother were married, it is said by Rev. MT. Bray. Chamberlain's mother, | the report has it, was divorced from Curtis. Chamberlain once or twice signed the pledge at the meetings of the Good Samari- | tans' society. This was few years ago. He seemed then thoughtless youth and not
 badly disposed.
 In the Probate court yesterday morning | upon the solicitation of Attorney Siegwart l Spier, who drew up the will of Mrs. Margar- ct Ernst. Judge Robertson appointed Select | man Feldman and Robert A. Merwin ap- | praisers on the dead woman's estate.